Feared Finglas rapist David McCartan back on streets of Dublin after early release

Evil David McCartan (34), who broke into the homes of his victims before violently raping them, walked free from Arbour Hill Prison on Friday morning

Sources say gardai were made aware in advance of McCartan's release and it is expected he will remain in the Dublin area.

Such is the danger McCartan poses to women, he is subject to a 10-year post release supervision order.

McCartan was just 21 years old in 2009 when he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for acts that a judge said "ruined the lives" of both his victims.

The rapist, of Casement Road, Finglas, Dublin, had been on bail for raping a 41-year-old woman in her home when he broke into a flat and raped a 21-year-old woman after beating up her boyfriend.

In the first offence, his 41-year-old victim, a mother of two, had woken up to find McCartan standing in her bedroom.

The victim said she knew McCartan as he had moved close to the family home three years earlier and befriended her children.

"He was good friends with my daughter for a while. But he started calling to our house looking for them at all hours of the night," she said. "Now I know he was plotting and scheming all along."

About a month before the rape, the woman said a key to the front door went missing. And on the night of May 3, 2007, she was alone in the house.

"I heard tap tapping on the downstairs window. I looked out and it was him and I told him to get away and got back into bed," she said.

"The next thing I knew he was standing there in my room. I started screaming. Then he pounced. I begged him not to hurt me. I wanted to stay alive - not for me, but for my children."

"As he was leaving he said, 'By the way, tell anyone about this and I'll have your kids killed'," she added.

The terrified woman reported the incident the following day.

The year after this rape, and while on bail for this offence, McCartan climbed into a third-storey flat where he raped a 21-year-old woman, having beaten up her boyfriend and dragged her from their bedroom.

The court heard this woman and her boyfriend had woken up to noises in their flat.

They shouted out that they had a knife with them in order to scare off the intruder, but McCartan walked into their room carrying a fork.

He pushed the woman out the door and ordered her to take off her pyjama bottoms, but she refused.

He then went back into the bedroom where he beat up her boyfriend. He then struck the woman, raped her twice and forced her to perform oral sex.

The gardai then knocked at the front door, having been alerted by the woman's boyfriend.

By the time the gardai got to the room, McCartan had escaped but he was later arrested and made full admissions.

McCartan pleaded guilty to two charges each of rape and burglary to commit rape and one charge of oral rape on May 3, 2007 and August 31, 2008.

Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court jailed him for 10 years for each rape to run consecutively.

He also ordered 10 years post-release supervision.

He commented that there was a credible threat to kill in the first rape and he had "permanently disrupted and, in fact, ruined both women's lives".

"It is a highly aggravating factor in the first case that the accused disclosed that he had planned the violation for some time and had been awaiting his opportunity," Mr Justice Carney said.

"It took place in what should have been the comfort and security of their own homes, particularly in the first case where she lived with her children."

After McCartan was sentenced, his youngest victim said: "He got what he deserved. He ruined our lives."

His 41-year-old victim revealed the rape left her with suicidal tendencies, but she said: "I'm not going to let him beat me".

She also dismissed a letter of apology McCartan had handed into the court as "baloney".

"We will never forgive him," she said.